Sources

In an interview released Thursday, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church has gotten itself wrapped up in "small things, in small-minded rules", when it comes to the church's hard-line aversion to homosexuality, contraception and abortion. If the church does not change its ways, the Pope says, "the moral edifice of the Church is likely to fall like a house of cards."

"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods," the Pope added. “But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”

With a slogan that reads “I want to marry you in Minneapolis”, the city's mayor, R.T. Rybak, unveiled a Chicagoland ad campaign on
Thursday urging the city's LGBTQ couples to make the six-hour drive
to the City of Lakes to get legally married.

"Chicago is
my kind of town, but it's a second city in human rights. Right now, that
gives a tremendous competitive advantage to Minneapolis,” said Rybak,
who announced the campaign from the roof of the Center On Halsted, at 3656 N. Halsted St., a community center catered to LGBTQ Chicagoans in the heart of the Boystown neighborhood.

“The
people who built this neighborhood, who have done so much incredible
work in this community, you deserve equal rights,” he said. “Come to
Minnesota, a place that recognizes that you already should have those
rights."

Since 1983 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
has rejected blood donations from men who have ever had sex with
another man on the grounds that it is a high-risk behavior. But experts
and LGBTQ rights activists say the policy fosters inequality and, after
three decades of technological upgrades, it’s time for reform. Progress Illinois takes a closer look at the “outdated and discriminatory” policy.

Sources

The gay and lesbian community expressed outrage after State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) announced Friday that he would not call a same-sex marriage bill for vote in the House before the session ended.